According to a number of our elected Members of Parliament, a teacher should have the right to express their personal views alongside the national curriculum. So if, for example, a teacher is opposed to same sex marriage, they should be able to say so. They should have the right to say, Marriage between two men, or two women, is legal but personally I think that it’s wrong.

Fair enough.

So presumably, if I were a teacher, I would be allowed to say ‘marriage between two men and two women is legal, and personally I think you should all give homosexuality a try at least once before you die’ – if that was my honestly held belief?

Oh, sorry, you meant a teacher has the right to express your belief?

Because I had a think about it, and I can’t remember my teachers expressing any belief. I don’t know whether my biology teacher – whilst teaching me the facts of the food chain and protein – was a committed vegetarian or otherwise. I don’t know if any of my RE teachers thought all Muslims were going to hell for supporting the wrong faith, or if my history teachers secretly believed the holocaust didn’t happen, or if my home economics teacher thought cooking was a girly pursuit. I don’t know which political parties they voted for, which religions they belonged to, which football team they supported – why should I? They were my teachers, they were there to educate me, not raise me. Their job was to teach the national curriculum, and I never thought they were being ‘discriminated against’ because they couldn’t share their personal views on everything.

But you weren’t talking about their views, were you, you were taking about your views. Your views are different. Your views are special.

Actually, I can’t think of any profession in which you are afforded the ultimate right to express your views. If a client comes into my office and I berate them for smoking, I could be fired for unprofessional behaviour. If, in my capacity as a PA, I am asked to do a coffee run from Starbucks, I can’t spout off about my views on tax avoidance.